Market news: Sotheby's shares, paintings by Ronnie Kray and more

Colin Gleadell rounds up all the latest news from the fine art and antiques market

Sotheby's shares fell eight per cent last Wednesday even though its main Impressionist and modern art sale pulled in £125 million, in line with expectations.

Analysts pointed to several lots on which Sotheby's had guaranteed a payment which either sold below estimate or not at all, implying that Sotheby's had lost money on its guarantees. But closer inspection shows that this was unlikely.

Taken as a whole, Sotheby's guaranteed 23 lots which sold for a total of £49 million, more than £1 million over their combined pre-sale estimate. In fact, one of the real surprises of the week was that, with all the cards stacked heavily in Christie's favour, Sotheby's did as well as it did.

Its sale, which saw record prices for sculptors Lynn Chadwick (£973,000) and Barbara Hepworth (£1.4 million), made Sotheby's highest total since May 1990.

A painting by the notorious East End gang leader Ronnie Kray is a highlight of Bloomsbury Auctions' first sale devoted to Modern British and Contemporary art which goes on view at its Mayfair saleroom on Sunday.

With the encouragement of Francis Bacon, Kray turned to painting while serving a life sentence in Broadmoor, turning out colourful, expressionist landscapes. Bloomsbury's example is estimated at £5,000 to £8,000.

"It is a little-known fact that Ronnie Kray painted at least one masterpiece," the artist and critic Marcus Reichert once remarked. Perhaps this one could be it.

Memories of one of the best-known London galleries of the 1960s will be revived next weekend when Riflemaker in Soho recreates something of the spirit of Indica, the gallery where John Lennon first met Yoko Ono.

Trippy 1960s works by Ono, Liliane Lijn, Carlos Cruz-Diaz and Mark Boyle will all be shown and for sale, with prices ranging up to £46,00 for a flashing light sculpture by Lijn.

Indica founders John Dunbar and Barry Miles will also be on hand, but not, apparently, as salesmen. "John and I were completely useless at the business side of things," says Miles. Indica closed after two years when it could not pay the rent.